Tim Arango

ISTANBUL — Even as he faced sweeping anti-government protests last summer and a corruption investigation that challenged his rule, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held close to the notion that voters had put him in office and would do so again.

BAGHDAD — Abu Mohaned spent Tuesday night washing the bodies of victims of that evening’s car bombs, preparing them for burial. When a couple of roadside bombs went off the next day, he did the same thing.

ISTANBUL — With war on Turkey’s borders, and political and economic troubles in Egypt, the two countries have turned to each other for support, looking to build an alliance that could represent a significant geopolitical shift in the Middle East prompted by the Arab Spring, uniting two countries with regional ambitions each headed by parties with roots in political Islam.

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s major coalitions were locked in a surprisingly close race on Thursday, in initial results from elections that deepened divisions across a fractured landscape. Candidates were quick to charge fraud, heightening concerns whether Iraq’s fledgling institutions were strong enough to support a peaceful transfer of power.

The owners of The New York Post and The Daily News lost out to Cablevision in the battle for Newsday, the Long Island daily, on Monday, but the tabloid war may be far from over. Either paper could still strike a deal to share operations with Newsday, according to bankers and analysts.